Rapid, Point-of-Need Molecular Testing for Listeria Species Is Now Available for Both Environmental and Food Matrices

BALTIMORE, MD--(Marketwired - May 1, 2013) - InstantLabs Medical Diagnostics Corporation (InstantLabs®), developer of the portable Hunter® Accelerated Real-Time PCR system, today announced that its Listeria Species Food Safety Kit has received AOAC Performance Tested Methods(SM) certification (PTM #041304) for environmental and food matrices. The Hunter® system is a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) platform that provides rapid, affordable, and accurate detection of pathogens. Bacteria that are members of the Listeria genus are an increasingly prevalent and dangerous concern in the food safety industry globally.

The Listeria Species Food Safety Kit has been certified for the identification of L. species in foods and environmental surfaces that are common carriers of the potentially lethal foodborne pathogen. The award follows independent laboratory studies conducted by Food Safety Net Services (FSNS). The AOAC Performance Tested(SM) certification mark is widely recognized by the food industry and government agencies and is awarded to products that have passed unbiased and rigorous evaluation.

"The certification from AOAC for our Listeria Species Food Safety Kit further validates the ability of the Hunter® system to accurately and reliably identify foodborne pathogens at the point of need, eliminating the time wasted while samples are shipped to outside testing facilities. In addition to providing precise, affordable pathogen detection, the Hunter® system's Listeria Species Food Safety Kit can offer results in 24 hours, significantly faster than traditional methods of pathogen testing," said Steven Guterman, Chief Executive Officer of InstantLabs. "Our Listeria monocytogenes Food Safety Kit has also been submitted to the AOAC for review, and we are aggressively working to bring the many advantages of point-of-need RT-PCR testing offered by the Hunter® system to additional food pathogens such as Vibrio, a genus of bacteria that can be found in seafood."

The bacterial genus Listeria is an increasingly prevalent and dangerous global food pathogen, and can be found in foods as diverse as dairy, produce, meat, and poultry products. Contamination by Listeria can happen at any point in the food processing chain, making it important to test final food products as well as the environment including surfaces and machinery along the entire food processing line.

InstantLabs' Hunter® system and Food Safety Test Kits are designed to both simplify and improve the detection process for relevant dangerous bacteria in food products directly at the point of need. The test kits are available to the food industry and import/export organizations worldwide, for whom the ability to deliver the highest quality food products in the shortest possible window of time is crucial to public health and overall success of the organization. In addition to its Listeria Food Safety Test Kits, InstantLabs has test kits available for Salmonella species, E. coli 0157:H7 as well as tests to screen for Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) including the 'Big 6'. InstantLabs also offers a porcine DNA detection kit and will soon be shipping a kit for detecting equine (horsemeat) DNA.

The use of RT-PCR has historically been limited to large centralized labs with highly specialized staff. Barriers to its wider use have included the amount of space required for multiple large components, technical complexity, and high cost. InstantLabs removes these barriers with its fully-integrated, compact, and affordable Hunter system, which requires only minimal space and basic technician training to deliver gold-standard testing at points-of-need.

Food Safety Net Services (FSNS) is a national network of ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratories. Recognized as a one-stop food safety resource, the company's primary services include a strong experience base in consulting, validation, challenge studies, on-site sampling programs and development of proficiency programs. For more information, visit www.fsns.com.

The AOAC Research Institute (AOAC-RI) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOAC INTERNATIONAL (AOAC) that administers the AOAC conformity assessment programs, Performance Tested Methods(SM) and Official Methods of Analysis(SM). AOAC is a globally recognized, independent, not-for-profit standards developing association founded in 1884. AOAC serves the analytical community by engaging industry stakeholders to develop voluntary consensus standards for methods and providing analytical methods that demonstrate confidence in analytical results. For more information, visit www.aoac.org.

InstantLabs, a molecular diagnostic device company, developed and markets the Hunter Accelerated-PCR® system, a fully-integrated, easy-to-use, portable and affordable real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) platform for rapid, accurate pathogen detection. The company currently offers the Hunter system for use with several foodborne pathogen test kits for the global food industry. The Hunter system is especially well suited for use at points-of-care and points-of-need to detect and analyze a wide variety of common and problematic pathogens. InstantLabs' growing worldwide customer base includes some of the world's leading food companies. InstantLabs is also developing products for additional markets, including medical diagnostics and veterinary health where gold-standard accuracy, combined with ease-of-use and rapid results, are critical. InstantLabs was founded in 2008 and is located in Baltimore, Maryland. For more information please visit www.instantlabs.com.